With the increasing use of wound clamp setting instruments instead of conventional suturing by means of needle and thread, for closing wounds, the cost of closing wounds has correspondingly increased, so that the costs of manufacture and subsequent use of wound clamp setting instruments needs to be kept low. Conventional disposable wound clamp setting instruments, which cannot be re-used after sterilisation do not meet this need. It has, therefore, been proposed to construct only part of a wound clamp setting instrument as a disposable part. According to DE-A-3 934 698 such an instrument consists of a first part comprising a magazine receiving wound clamps, which part cannot be re-used, and a second part comprising handles and other parts which can be re-used after being sterilised. This approach to the manufacture of wound clamp setting instruments, reduces the costs mentioned above and is also environment friendly.
Where the instrument is made in two parts as described above, the parts must be easily connectable and detachable by the operator, for example when the magazine is to be changed during an operation. The connection between the two parts must, however, be secure whilst the instrument is in use in a wound closing operation.
It has been found that a conventional stop-connection or snap-connection between the two parts of the instrument has a holding power which is sufficient only to maintain the connection between the two parts when the instrument is at rest, rather than during its use in a wound closing operation. During such use, closure of the handles generates forces acting on the magazine, the tools for setting the wound clamps and other components of the instrument, which forces may be such as to overcome a conventional connection between the two parts of the instrument so that they are unintentionally separated.